Children have the mindset that everything is worth exploring, and learning more about... they have the simplest ways of figuring out how something works and why. Knowing that children can be content with simplistic reasoning of things in their world makes me wish that I could have that same point of view. (*I chose a picture of Felix the cat- a well-known cartoon because he was one of my favorite cartoon characters as a child!)
I have often watched children when they are still in the age range where language is something that seems new and strange. I had the pleasure of running into one of my professors, as he was on a stroll with his wife and absolutely adorable son, Jaxson. Jaxson, even though he is new to the world, saw me and a smile spread across his face. A simple gesture yet still full of meaning -an expression of emotion, happiness. The expression may not have taken much thought, but Jaxson knew enough to know that he was happy -regardless of the reason why.
It still amazes me how some people truly believe that infants and young children...sometimes even young adults do not know as much as developed adults. I beg to differ with those who believe this. Children, and adults alike have the same ability to obtain information and learn from what knowledge they gain, though it might be in different ways. Adults and children can learn the same things -the difference lies in the fact that adults make things much more complicated, they attempt to find reason, answers and solutions. Children on the other hand attempt to discover through their reasoning...they may not always find the right answer but they do find answers in ways that make sense to them.
Teachers should run with the idea that children find solutions to problems in ways that make sense to them. As long as children are learning how to solve a problem, we can either point them in the right direction and encourage such learning, or we can correct them and they learn nothing from it. Teachers should be encouragers not discouragers and learn to think in ways that equal that of a child/or of their students so that they can be on the same page, and understand their students thought processes in order to teach them better.
